Bad Bunny posing for a selfie. Photo source: Heute
On September 28, 2025, the NFL announced that Bad Bunny would be playing at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show by posting a video of the singer sitting on a goalpost with his song Callaita playing in the background. Bad Bunny is the twelfth most streamed artist on Spotify and his album Un Verano Sin Ti spent thirteen weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 chart in 2022. Since the announcement, controversy has sparked, with people divided over whether or not him performing is a good thing.
People have been questioning if Bad Bunny’s music really correlates to the atmosphere of the Super Bowl. In FULL SEND Podcast, a news and comedy podcast hosted by Kyle Forgeard and Bob Menery, Aaron Steinberg said, “American NFL is about gambling, beer, football, and zaps. What does that have to do with Bad Bunny? He doesn’t fit that narrative at all.” Many football fans feel that a Puerto Rican musician who deals mainly with reggaeton and Latin trap is not a good representation of the NFL or American spirit. However, Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.A., which can be forgotten, so many Puerto Ricans feel that they will be getting good representation.
A photo of Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, professionally known as Bad Bunny. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons
Another complaint that has been circulating through social media is that his music is primarily in Spanish. Though Spanish is widely taught in the U.S. school systems, most non-Hispanic people in America do not speak Spanish, and certainly don’t know enough to understand Spanish rap songs. On the counterargument, music is music; it unites us despite language barriers. If a good song starts playing, anyone can dance to it, even if they have no idea what the lyrics mean. This depends on the person, however, which is another reason why this is so controversial.
Many argue that the controversy regarding this upcoming performance has nothing to do with Bad Bunny himself, but rather that the issues are a projection of current immigration and political related debates. Bad Bunny has been hesitant about touring in the U.S. due to concern that ICE will be there and his fans may not feel comfortable. In an interview with the press, Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, was asked whether or not ICE would be present at the Super Bowl halftime show, to which she responded, “There will be, because the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for keeping it safe.…we’ll be all over that place… So I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country.”
Despite the unrest, there are a large number of fans who are excited for the Super Bowl halftime show, and many who feel that this will be a chance for Puerto Rican representation. “I’m so excited. I love him so much!” Ms. Smith, a freshmen English teacher at Central, exclaimed when asked for her thoughts. If you would like to check out some of Bad Bunny’s music, look him up on any music platform, like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Youtube, etc.
